Girl Abducted, Raped After Leaving School

A 9-year-old Orlando girl who didn't come home from school Wednesday was found Thursday in St. Augustine after being abducted and raped, police said.

Officers said the girl left Lake Como Elementary School on Bumby Avenue about 2:15 p.m. Wednesday. When she had not returned by 7:30 p.m., her mother notified police.

Witnesses said they last saw the girl walking on South Street, about a block from her home, after school let out, police said. The school is about a half-mile from the child's home.

About a dozen police officers searched the area between the school and the girl's home, but gave up about midnight when they found no signs of her.

A pilot in an Orange County sheriff's helicopter also helped in the search. Police spokesman Jeff Peck said a passer-by found the child sitting on the side of a road in St. Augustine about 5:30 a.m. Thursday. The man drove the girl to the police station. After learning her name and address, officers there notified Orlando police.

Peck said investigators have determined that the girl was abducted and raped, but they weren't able to talk with her later Thursday because she was ''in a state of shock.''

The girl was sent home, and investigators are expected to question her today, Peck said.

''We know that she was abducted and was the victim of a sexual battery,'' he said.